Carte Blanche

On his second Carte Blanche-evening, Jonas Ruther invites you to an interdisciplinary ‘deep dive’ in the Walcheturm with like-minded artists, in which music, text, acting and spatial design will transform time and space. A strong hui-gan is guaranteed.

To operate in a continuous breath. The conversational and frictional breath of the collective. The more introspective one of individual and inner breathing. In all cases, to be one with the original drone of a world that we continue to survey, even when our cosmopolitan peregrinations are thwarted. The first lightning rod of the Lake Geneva collective L'Orage, Ganesh is also know for his thrillling solo performances with his albums ‘Wuji’ (Vinayaka, 2022) and ‘1:15:40’ (Vinayaka, 2022). Saxophone strapped to his backpack or to the memories archived on his Laptop, Ganesh Geymeier is sometimes Coltrane (Alice and John), sometimes Lomax (Alan) and Bowles (Paul), sometimes Parker (Charlie or Evan). Composer, improviser, documentary force: it is from this refusal to compartmentalise features that Ganesh Geymeier draws his power.

Concert location: Kunstraum Walcheturm, Kanonengasse 20, 8004 Zürich

Anna Papst has been working as an author of documentary theatre plays for around ten years. Since she invented the ‘reportage’ format for theatre in 2015, well over a hundred people have told her their stories. With her recording device, Anna Papst has sat opposite surrogate mothers, criminals, cyborgs and victims of violence, among others. Anna Papst condenses the recorded conversations into new texts, which she brings to the stage with actors as ‘enacted oral history’. In other words, a performance of various eyewitness accounts in which the eyewitnesses not only talk about the past, but also about the here and now.
Anna Papst has already worked with the actress Chantal LeMoign on two projects.
For this evening, she will restage a text from the documentary theatre piece ‘Da Da Da’, which deals with the connection between memory and music, for the Walcheturm.

Concert location: Kunstraum Walcheturm, Kanonengasse 20, 8004 Zürich

In Jonas Ruther's world, music is a form of communication based on the concept of deep listening. His playing follows less formatted rhythms or predetermined dramaturgy; he is much more concerned with flow, the direct transfer of energy - both kinetic and subtle - and the creation of synergetic connections with the other players and the audience. The separation between the musicians and the audience can and will dissolve. Synergy. Flow. Ruther describes the effect of his music as the experience of a deep Pu'er tea, in which the essence does not cling to the sensory perception. In Chinese, it is called hui-gan or ‘returning sweetness’: the subtle, persistent feeling that lingers and reverberates in the body.

divr, a trio consisting of Philipp Eden, Raphael Walser and Jonas Ruther, is a post-jazz piano trio with a pop sensibility. Their sampling-inspired improvisations and electro-acoustic soundscapes unfold a magical pull - composed in real time and allowing the strengths and idiosyncrasies of each individual player to shine through.

Concert location: Kunstraum Walcheturm, Kanonengasse 20, 8004 Zürich

Jonas Ruther invited the collective MADAM, consisting of Marco Mercuzio Peron and Mara Miccichè, to design the space and the stages. MADAM is a collaborative platform for site-specific happenings and productions, curating interdisciplinary formats such as 'Il Circolo del Frattempo', as well as soundtracks and sound design for film and installations. In 2024 they curated the world premiere of 'CASCADE', a new composition by Terry Riley and Gyan Riley, as part of the curatorship for the 'Bäderkultur' project in Baden.

Concert location: Kunstraum Walcheturm, Kanonengasse 20, 8004 Zürich